Heinrich’s swings against the Holy Knight only increased, but its complete defense blocked all of them. In the end, no matter what he tried, his attacks were never able to reach it.
“Should’ve expected as much…from the pupil of a wiseman.”
Having his sword skills rendered completely useless, Heinrich sat down dispirited. None of his attacks, from beginning to end, had yielded any sort of result against the Holy Knight.
However, from Mira’s point of view, things were a bit different. The Holy Knight specialized in defense, but that was not the only thing it was capable of. It had counterattack measures, but Heinrich’s attacks were so frequent he gave it no room to focus on anything apart from defending.
“Do not feel too bad about it. You did a splendid job cornering my Holy Knight into such a defensive fight.”
Heinrich’s shoulders sank like a deflated balloon as Mira placed her hand on them, almost like a parent consoling a child, and she spoke to him.
Even though her hand was just touching the rough armor covering his shoulder, her warmth still penetrated through it, and once he felt it, his stone-like face turned red as if it was melting from the heat.
“Is…Is that so?”
“Mhm, that was a magnificent display of swordsmanship.”
“I see, I see I see!”
He raised his voice as life returned to his eyes, looking up and lifting his arms to the sky in high spirits. Seeing his friend act not as annoyed as one would expect after being complimented by a girl like Mira, a wry smile floated on Gilbert’s lips.
“In either case, it was able to fend off my attacks so well, so it should be able to keep watch without problems as well.”
Heinrich spoke with a triumphant air as he looked up at the Holy Knight. His earlier dejection had vanished without a trace, a burly smile showing on his face now.
“Well, that much is true. Now that that matter is settled, we should sleep soon. We have to arrive at the Abandoned City before the sun sets tomorrow.”
Saying that, Gilbert took off his leather armor and quiver, then took a sleeping bag out which he spread on the ground. Heinrich did the same beside him, taking his armor off and placing it on the ground together with his sword, then brushing some small stones away on the ground to place his sleeping bag.
As Mira watched them do that, she was reminded of what happened in Silverside station.
She had gotten a brand new sleeping bag from someone who gave airs of being a merchant there.
(Seems that will come in handy faster than I thought.)
As it was a large and bulky one, she went a few paces away to take it out. When the large sleeping bag fell on the ground, a gust of wind was raised by it which reached the backs of the other two.
The fifth floor was a turning point in the stairs, with the entrance and exit side by side. That made the cold air that stung like thorns coming from the upper floors flow directly to the lower levels, leaving the center of the floor untouched.
So when Gilbert and Heinrich felt wind on them after getting used to the warm environment, they obviously turned their heads to the direction they felt the wind coming from. When they saw that out-of-place object there, their gazes shifted to its owner, Mira.
“Mira, what is that thing?”
Moving a step or two closer, Heinrich leaned over it and asked with a deeply curious stare.
The sleeping bag laying there magnificently was at least as large as a mattress, and the top was covered with a blue cloth. Even Mira was like them, taking a second to understand what she was looking at.
“This is…my sleeping bag. Although this is my first time using it.”
“Is that really a sleeping bag? It doesn’t look like one at all.”
Even after she replied, Heinrich still was curious about it, his eyes almost digging into it as he got close enough to touch it.
“That’s what I first thought as well. I got it from someone handling adventure gear from…some and such company. Said it was all new things that were not yet on sale.”
Mira spoke full of herself, though she had forgotten the name of the seller. But after hearing her, Gilbert rummaged through his mind, arriving at the name of a company that was known by almost anyone in that world.
“Hmm, so new gear from a company that specializes in adventurer gear. Was it the Dinowahl company maybe?”
“Ohh yes, that is correct. That was the name.”
After digging through her memories trying to remember the name, she recalled it the instant he mentioned it. After that she reached into her waist pouch and took out the business card she received. Gilbert looked at it with keen interest.
“Thedrick Dinowahl. The son of the Dinowahl family huh. You’ve met some more interesting personages here. But does that mean this thing is more like a prototype then?”
“I can’t believe it, I’m so jealous. Can I touch it?”
Having seen the business card, Gilbert spoke impressed. From his side, Heinrich’s innocent voice came out, obviously affected by drowsiness.
“Mhm, I don’t mind.”
The warrior-like attitude Heinrich had built until then, was crumbling once more. But Mira spoiled him with a warm smile, finding his attitude somewhat adorable.
After receiving Mira’s permission, Heinrich took the sleeping bag and began feeling the inside and outside, checking every nook and cranny of it. Being privileged enough to touch an item that was not for sale yet, Heinrich’s interest in the sleeping bag was endless.
“The surface is pretty smooth and feels really good to touch. It’s also surprisingly soft.”
“Exactly. It’s still a brand new item after all.”
“I wonder what the inside is like.”
Having said that, he turned his face to Mira as if asking for permission.
“Feel free to check it.”
“I appreciate it…though, how should I go around doing that?”
He had confirmed it was a sleeping bag from touching it, but he had no idea how to open it so he knit his brows slightly as he asked Mira again.
Mira bent her body forward a bit and pointed with her finger to a flap in the sleeping bag.
“You can open it with that. Try it yourself.”
“Ohh, this here? Let’s see.”
Following Mira’s instructions, Henrich reached inside the flap and held the bump he found there, sliding it to the side. As he did that, the blue cloth appeared to be split into two as one half turned over, revealing its true appearance as a sleeping bag.
“Hohoh, so it turns like this. The interior feels pretty warm and is really soft as well. It definitely would feel great to sleep in it.”
“Exactly, exactly. But ah, it’s still brand new, so don’t treat it too roughly.”
Seeing Heinrich so excited about it, Mira pouted a bit as if planning something, but then smiled mischievously.
“Sure sure. I won’t do anything stupid. Ohh, it’s pretty deep too. I could easily sleep in here as well.”
“If you stretch it out so much, you will tear it.”
Mira twisted her lips watching how he opened the sleeping bag wide and checked the interior.
Seeing their interactions, Gilbert took a deep breath.
“Mira-san, I think you should give him a break by now. Henry is really dense, so he doesn’t realize anything you’re implying.”
And stopped the conversation going between the other two.
“Hmph, I was just starting to get in the mood, but well, I assume I enjoyed myself enough.”
Mira replied as such as she turned a blind eye to the dense man examining the sleeping bag with a serious expression. Soon after he noticed something was going on and he lifted his face to look at them.
“Hm? Did something happen?”
“Well, some of the stuff you said earlier, they could be taken in a really different way.”
Half exhausted, Gilbert informed him of that. Hearing that, Heinrich stood silent for some time, only knitting his eyebrows a bit, but in the end was unable to grasp the true meaning of those words.
Seeing him like that, Mira once again flashed an innocent smile.
After that, Heinrich asked her to tell him how the sleeping bag felt, and then he slipped inside his own sleeping bag.
Mira took her coat off and folded it beside her pillow, then wrapped herself inside a blanket, the soft fur enveloping her reminding her of the comfortable embrace of her mother.
Eventually Mira and Heinrich fell asleep, Gilbert was still awake, staring at the Holy Knight watching over them, and once he felt it was trustworthy enough, he slowly closed his eyes.
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